PUBLIC SAFETY

Aug. 18, 2011

STREET FIGHT

A man and his ex-girlfriend were arrested after a fi ght in Traverse City.

Police were called about a fi ght in progress Aug. 12 at around 2:20 a.m. at the intersection of Newcomb and 17th Street but no one was there when they arrived. A short while later they were called to Munson Medical Center to interview a 20year-old man with a broken jaw.

The man told police he and his girlfriend were headed to a residence when they were interrupted by the woman’s ex-boyfriend. An argument ensued and the ex-boyfriend came at him with a knife, he told police.

The victim said a fi ght followed and the next thing he knew he was in the hospital, TC Police Capt. Steve Morgan said.

When police went to look for the ex-boyfriend, the girlfriend denied he was in the residence and then punched an offi cer in the face. The 24-yearold was arrested.

A police dog was used to locate the boyfriend and he was also arrested. The dog, Zuk, also found a knife in a neighbor’s yard, Morgan said.

NINE-YEAR-OLD STRUCK

A 9-year-old who drove his bicycle from his driveway onto a road was struck by a vehicle.

Daniel F. Hosler, of East Jordan suffered injuries to his leg and other scrapes in the incident at 3:48 p.m. Aug. 11 on Miles Road south of Rogers Road.

A 64-year-old Central Lake woman driving a Dodge Caravan attempted to avoid the boy but was unable to prevent a collision, according to a Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department news release.

ALLEGED CRIME SPREE HALTED

State police say Colten Spencer Hague was apparently ready to make a clean break and live off the land -- he allegedly broke into an Otsego County home, stole some food and survival gear, loaded up a stolen ATV, and attempted to fl ee the area.

Hague, 21, of Mancelona, didn’t make it far.

A state police trooper on I-75 spotted him as he headed north on the interstate on Aug. 9. Following a short pursuit, he was arrested and jailed.

An alleged domestic assault and arson eight hours earlier led up to the getaway attempt and a massive manhunt, police said.

Troopers were called to an Otsego Lake Township residence Hague shared with his girlfriend early that Tuesday morning to respond to a domestic violence complaint. They arrived to fi nd the residence on fi re.

Everyone including two dogs got out of the home safely. Troopers got the fi re under control before fi refi ghters arrived, police said.

That call led to the hunt for Hague, who is accused of assaulting his girlfriend, starting the fi re and fl eeing before police arrived. State police say Hague now faces charges of felonious assault, arson, breaking and entering, vehicle theft, fl eeing and eluding, drunk driving, and cruelty to animals.

DRUNK BIKER ARRESTED

Police arrested an alleged drunk driving motorcyclist.

Police received a call to be on the look-out for two motorcycle drivers who appeared to be drunk as they left the bar area in the 100 block of south Union Street at around 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 8, TC Police Capt. Steve Morgan said.

There was no sign of the bikers when police arrived, but another call came in a short time later that a motorcyclist has been spotted driving the wrong way down Front Street, Morgan said. That witness also reported that the rider fell of his bike at Cass and State and was able to right the cycle and drive away.

Police caught up to the driver as he swerved southbound on Cass Street and a 52-year-old TC man was arrested, Morgan said. At the jail, the suspect tested for a blood alcohol content of .22, almost three times the limit, he said.

BOYS SWEPT AWAY; SAVED A US

Coast Guard rescue boat saved four boys who were swept out to sea in a rip current at the Frankfort beach.

A 911 call was placed Aug. 11 at 4:24 p.m. by a parent who watched the boys being pulled away from shore by a current while they were hanging onto an inner tube. The boys, three brothers and a friend, all from Frankfort, are 13, 11 and two are 9 years old.

A 25-foot rescue boat, already headed out for a routine patrol, was dispatched to rescue the boys and reached them in 10 minutes, according to a Coast Guard press release. The boys were found clinging to the inner tube about a half mile from shore.

ELDERLY MAN FOUND DEAD

A man in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia apparently wandered away from his home and died in Torch Lake.

Police said Donald Paul Stewart was reported missing by his wife after he wandered away from his Eastport home on NE Torch Lake Drive on the morning of Aug. 9, Antrim County Sheriff Daniel Bean said.

Sheriff deputies, state police and fi refi ghters searched for the 82-year-old. He was found dead later that day by a state police canine search team. It was determined he drowned, Bean said.

THREE SUSPECTS; TEN CHARGES

TC Police visited a house on the 900 block of Webster Street in the afternoon of Aug. 8 with an arrest warrant and wound up getting three for the price of one.

Police sought to arrest Brian Joseph Sloan, 38, of Traverse City, on warrants for a traffi c violation, shoplifting, and failure to appear to answer for two drug charges, Capt. Steve Morgan said.

They got Sloan, but police also arrested Helen Marie Stingley, 32, of Traverse City, and Deshuan Lamar Townsend, 31, of Detroit.

Stingley was arrested for fi ve outstanding warrants related to shoplifting, theft of a fi nancial transaction device, and maintaining a drug house, and Townsend was arrested on a warrant for failure to pay fi nes stemming from a drug conviction.

MINOR STALKER

A 56-year-old Saginaw man who police said hung around beaches to ogle female swimmers and make inappropriate comments is accused of following a 17-year-old and repeatedly showing up at her place of work.

State police arrested Drew A. Cummings on Aug. 4 after the teenager complained to police that she was repeatedly followed by a man in the Indian River area and felt threatened, according to a press release.

After an investigation, Cummings was charged with stalking a minor, a fi ve-year felony, and was jailed on a $100,000 bond at an arraignment in district court in Cheboygan.

BACKWARDS DRUNK DRIVER

Police said a driver was treated for minor injuries and severe intoxication after he drove his car backwards into a tree.

Cory Wayne Karlskin, 26, got into the crash Aug. 10 at around 8 p.m. off Rogers Road east of Waterman Road in South Arm Township, Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider said.

A passenger, Alisa Marie Bell, 25, of East Jordan, was transported to Charlevoix Area Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police said Karlskin was arrested for drunk driving and tested for a blood-alcohol content of approximately four times the legal limit.

CAR-BIKE CRASH

A second bicyclist was injured in a collision with a car in Charlevoix County in as many weeks.

This collision occurred on Waller Road near Whippoorwill Lane in Charlevoix Township at around 2 p.m., Aug. 6, Sheriff Don Schneider said.

Christopher Susott, a 34-year-old from Indiana, was westbound on his bike wearing a helmet when he was struck from behind by Mary Chew, 71, of Charlevoix, Schneider said. Susott was taken to Charlevoix Area Hospital.

A week earlier, a 61-year-old cyclist was injured when a car crashed into him.

That cyclist, Donald Van Suilichem, was more seriously injured than police originally said. Van Suilichem said he suffered a shoulder injury, cracked ribs, a concussion, and extensive road rash.